Today marks the one-year anniversary of the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (known to us locals as the GEM) to the world. On November 1, 2025, I watched the live feed from the patio of the Nile Ritz-Carlton, with my guests, whetting our appetites knowing we would be among the first to walk through the complete museum later that week.
With 12 galleries dedicated to the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, and two galleries just for King Tut’s treasures with many of his artifacts never before seen by the public, it was a great day for Egypt and the world. This museum became a reality after nearly 20 years of planning, construction, and opening delayed by a revolution, economic crises, and a global pandemic.
The head of a statue of Akhenaten on the Grand Staircase at the GEM. (2026)
On the museum’s sixth day fully opened, we (a guide, myself and 12 others) braved a literal crush of people getting into the museum. There was no timed entry, the main entrance wasn’t yet functioning correctly, and most of the guides hadn’t had time to brief themselves on what to show their guests and how much time they needed to walk through the entire place. To use the moving sidewalk up the grand staircase or take it step by step? To walk through the pre-history exhibits of Egypt, or skip the Middle Kingdom to get to the Greco-Roman period? How much detail do you give about the King Tut artifacts that people had never seen like his intricately carved alabaster lamp and his linen socks and gloves? To address this, I’ve also created a list of my Top 10 Things to See in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
An intricately carved alabaster lamp found in King Tut’s tomb (2026).
It was amazing to see accessible captions for the artifacts in English, Arabic, and Chinese as well as braille. We were moved to see Queen Hetepheres’ (pronounced Het-ep-haris) bed and chair (she was the wife of the king who built the Bent and Red Pyramids, and mother of King Khufu the builder of the Great Pyramid in Giza), to see the Middle Kingdom more exquisitely displayed giving us details from a time period most popular science books jump over. Facilities are accessible for wheelchair users, bathrooms are plentiful, and the building is fastidiously clean. All of this hails an amazing new era for museums in Egypt, and that’s how we approach it for our visitors.
On WanderinGwyneth tours guests take the time to stare in awe at the Hanging Obelisk outside to the Ramses the Great statue in the Grand Hall, to tread the ramps around the solar boat museum, and stand face-to-face with the golden mask of Tutankhamen. We take our time to enjoy and give this museum the appreciation it deserves without rushing through.
I invite you to join me in Egypt in 2027. See Egypt in all its splendor! From Cairo to Luxor, Aswan to Abu Simbel, and finally capping the visit with a full day at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Together, we will uncover the mystery of the pyramids, sail down the Nile on a dahabiya, enjoy Egyptian food, be dwarfed by the colossi of Abu Simbel, all culminating in a curated tour of the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization.
In honor of the anniversary of the opening of the museum, we are offering a 10% discount on all set-date group tours to Egypt for 2027. This offer is good until December 31, 2026.
February 16-27, 2027 – Ramadan Magic * no fasting required
March 20–29, 2027 – The Unofficial Mummy Tour
April 27–May 8, 2027 – Egypt Nile River Cruise
November 21–December 2, 2027 – Egypt Nile River Cruise
December 9–20, 2027– Egypt Nile River Cruise
If these dates don’t work for you, please subscribe to our newsletter for further date availability and information about private group tours.
Keep wandering,
Gwyneth
